ES2986340T3 - Recovery panel - Google Patents

Abstract

This collector panel (3) for agricultural sprayer forms a hollow box comprising an air inlet opening and openings or pre-openings suitable for receiving pulsed air spray assemblies (35). (Automatic translation with Google Translate, without legal value)

Description

DESCRIPTION

Recovery panel

The present invention relates to a recovery panel for an agricultural sprayer, to a supporting device for said panel and to a sprayer equipped with said panels carried by said devices.

As is known in the field of agricultural fumigation, a recurring problem lies in the recovery of the part of the phytosanitary liquid that is not deposited on the plants to be treated.

In fact, it is often estimated that during a spraying operation, only 30% of the phytosanitary liquid remains adhered to the foliage of the plants to be treated.

The rest of the phytosanitary liquid diffuses into the air or spreads over the ground by gravity.

In the current context where there is a need to limit the environmental impact of spraying operations, as well as to significantly save the quantities of phytosanitary liquid sprayed, it is essential to develop means to limit the losses of this liquid.

This is how, in the state of the art, panels for the recovery of phytosanitary liquids have been installed, in particular, forming a kind of shield - also called screens - around the spray nozzles, which make it possible to recover a part of the phytosanitary liquid that is not fixed on the foliage plants to be treated.

In these prior art recovery panels, we find complex networks of pipes that feed the various spray nozzles: these panels are therefore heavy and difficult to clean. In addition, these panels are designed to always be placed parallel to the rows of plants to be treated, which makes them difficult to handle and adaptable to different operating configurations (road driving, turning at the end of the row, etc.).

Documents US 6302 332 B1, FR 3001 159 A1, EP 0574 740 A1, and DE 8906405 U1 describe recovery panels for agricultural sprayers according to the state of the art.

The present invention aims in particular to improve the design, handling and efficiency of such recovery panels.

This objective of the invention is achieved with a recovery panel as described in independent claim 1.

This hollow box design with holes in the recovery panel makes it possible to dispense with all the pipes of the prior art devices, necessary to conduct the air to the spray nozzles: in this way a simplified design of the recovery panel is obtained allowing both the spraying of the phytosanitary product and the recovery of the sprayed and unfixed phytosanitary product on the foliage plants to be treated, said panel needing few parts, being easy to clean (absence of corners and places of difficult access inside the box), and having a reduced weight compared to the solutions known in the prior art.

According to other optional features of the recovery panel according to the invention:

- the panel is ribbed on its working side: the presence of ribs on the working side of each recovery panel prevents drops of phytosanitary liquid returned by the leaves of the plants from bouncing off the panel; by avoiding this bouncing, we limit the quantity of phytosanitary liquid dispersed in the environment; these ribs also reinforce the structural strength (resistance to deformation) of the recovery panel,

- said ribs have a substantially triangular section and extend in a vertical direction in the working position,

- This recovery panel includes a phytosanitary liquid recovery tank at the bottom in working position, capable of being connected to a pipe for the recovery of this liquid,

- This recovery panel is provided on its face opposite its working face with a slot capable of receiving a phytosanitary liquid inlet tube,

- said openings or preliminary openings capable of receiving spray assemblies of the pulsed air type are arranged symmetrically on both sides of said ribs,

- this recovery panel comprises holes or preliminary air outlet holes arranged symmetrically on one side or on each side of said ribs, and/or above and/or below said ribs in the working position: these openings or preliminary openings make it possible to form peripheral air curtains making it possible to control the spraying of phytosanitary liquid, especially in the presence of wind; this makes it possible in particular to provide for spraying at a higher forward speed of the agricultural machine, typically about 20% higher than a traditional forward speed;

- This recovery panel is made of rigid or flexible polyethylene.

The present invention also relates to a sprayer according to claim 8.

The present invention also relates to a sprayer equipped with recovery panels according to the above, carried by respective support devices according to the above, wherein said recovery panels are movable between a working position where these panels are arranged parallel to each other at the rear of said sprayer, and a storage position where at least some of these panels are stored on the sides of the sprayer, parallel to its working position, or on top of said sprayer.

The present invention also relates to a sprayer equipped with recovery panels according to the above, carried by respective support devices according to the above, wherein in the working position, said panels are arranged so as to form two by two angles open towards the front of said sprayer.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will appear in light of the following description and examination of the attached figures, where:

- Figure 1 is a perspective view of an agricultural sprayer supporting recovery panels according to the invention, superimposed on a row of plants to be treated,

- Figure 2 is a perspective view of one of the recovery panels of the sprayer in Figure 1, where different operating air jets are symbolically represented when the sprayer is in working condition,

- Figures 3a, 3b, 3c show this recovery panel oriented in different ways with respect to its support device,

- Figure 4 is an exploded perspective view of the upper part of this recovery panel and its associated support device,

- Figure 5 is a perspective view from above of the sprayer according to the invention, where one of the recovery panels is shown in a retracted position, allowing in particular the circulation of this sprayer on the road, as well as an easier turn at the end of the row, to avoid snagging the plants,

- Figures 6 and 7 are schematic views of possible storage modes of the recovery panels with respect to the main part of the sprayer, and

- Figure 8 is a perspective view of a possible working position of the recovery panels of a sprayer according to the invention.

We now refer to Figure 1, where a spraying machine 1 (in this case, a towed sprayer) is shown, which supports the recovery panels 3, 5 according to the invention by means of an articulated suspension mechanism 7, which includes in particular support devices 9, 11.

As can be seen in figure 1, when the spraying machine 1 circulates in the direction and sense of advance D, the recovery panels 3, 5 arranged on both sides of the plants to be treated V, allow spraying on the foliage of these plants a phytosanitary liquid that allows an adequate treatment of these plants.

Referring more particularly to Figures 2 and 3a to 3c, it can be seen that a recovery panel 3 according to the invention has the form of a single-piece box, preferably formed from a thermoplastic material such as rigid or flexible polyethylene. This box defines a hollow volume within which the air supplied by the spray assembly(s) can circulate.

That is to say, this box has a hollow shape like a boat, delimited by a rear face provided with a substantially closed and/or watertight wall and a front face from which both the spraying of the phytosanitary product and the recovery of the phytosanitary product and not fixed on the foliage of the plants to be treated are carried out. Such a shape, like that of a "boat", could float in water thanks to this shape and a watertight rear face.

On its working side, that is to say on the side intended to face the plants to be treated, the box 3 comprises a plurality of ribs 13 which extend substantially in a vertical direction, and practically over the entire height of the recovery panel, the vertical being understood in relation to the working position of this panel, as shown in figure 1.

Preferably, each of these ribs 13 may have a substantially triangular section.

On its face opposite its working face, particularly visible in figure 3c, this recovery panel has slots 15, 17, which allow to house respectively a tube 19 for the entry of phytosanitary liquid and a tube 21 for the recovery of part of this liquid.

As shown in Figure 4, at its top, the box forming the recovery panel 3 has an opening 23 for air intake.

As seen in particular in Figures 2 and 3a, the recovery panel 3 comprises, on its lateral edges, a plurality of lateral air outlet holes 25, 27.

As also seen in these two figures, this recovery panel 3 also includes lower 29 and upper 31 air outlets.

As seen in Figure 2, the recovery panel 3 also includes, in its lower part, a recovery tank 33 for phytosanitary liquid, connected to the phytosanitary liquid recovery tube 21 of Figure 3c.

As seen in Figures 2 and 3a, the recovery panel 3 comprises, on its working face, and towards the front of the recovery panel with respect to the circulation direction D in a working situation, a plurality of pulsed air spray assemblies 35.

These assemblies 35, which will not be detailed here, each comprise an air diffuser that communicates with the hollow space of the box that forms the recuperator 3, and a spray nozzle connected to the phytosanitary liquid inlet pipe 15.

These spray assemblies 35 are placed in openings formed in the box defining the recuperator 3. The preliminary openings 37 are arranged symmetrically in this box, as seen in figure 3a, to allow the air diffusers and the spray nozzles, the spray assemblies 35, to be positioned respectively symmetrically on the working face of the recuperator 3, to allow the reversibility of the right/left mounting of this recuperator.

In order to carry out the spraying, the air circulating in the box carries propellant air to the spray assembly 35. The propellant air enters through an inlet of the spray assembly, passes through it from side to side and exits through an outlet opening in the form of a jet of air directed towards the plants to be treated. The spray assembly performs the function of shaping the jet of air and distributing it towards the plants to be treated. The phytosanitary product is dispersed in the outlet opening of the nozzle to be transported or blown by the jet of air towards the interior of the foliage of the plants to be treated.

The sprayer assembly is an assembly that allows the diffusion of air and the atomization of the phytosanitary product. Such an assembly is also called a nozzle assembly or a nozzle block and can be considered as an assembly configured to ensure a mixture of a phytosanitary product with the propellant air to form an aerosol, i.e. to spray and diffuse the aerosol.

Preferably, this spray assembly 35 is removable in a single piece from the wall that supports it to facilitate maintenance.

Referring now more particularly to Figure 4, we can see that the support device for the recovery panel 3 according to the invention comprises on the one hand a fixing frame 38 fixed to the upper part of the recovery panel 3, itself also fixedly connected to a male head 39 which in turn is pivotally mounted with respect to a female head 41.

The male head 39 comprises a male conduit 40 communicating with the inlet hole 23 of the recovery panel 3, and is mounted within a female conduit 43 fixed to the female head 41.

Two half-discs 45, 47 fixed to the female head 41 only allow the rotational movement of the male head 39 with respect to the female head 43.

A cylinder 49 interposed between an extension 51 of the female head 41 and a drive pin 53 fixed to the male head 39, allows this male head 39 to rotate relative to the female head 43, and thus ensure a rotation movement of the recovery panel 3 relative to a substantially vertical axis.

Figures 3a to 3c show different possible orientations of the recovery panel 3 with respect to the female head 41: in Figure 3a, the extension 51 of the female head 41 is oriented substantially perpendicular to the general plane of the recovery panel 3: this position corresponds to the working position of the recovery panel, as shown in Figure 1.

In Figure 3b, the recovery panel 3 is pivoting under the effect of the drive of the cylinder 49 from the working position towards the storage position (the latter being visible in Figure 3c), where the extension 51 of the female head 41 is located substantially in the general plane of the recovery panel 3.

This storage position is more particularly visible in Figure 5, where we can see that the recovery panel 5, connected to its support device 9, is stored substantially along the main body of the sprayer 1.

For this particular sprayer, in the storage position, the other associated retrieval panel 3 remains positioned at the rear of the main body of the sprayer.

Of course, other kinematics can be considered for storing the recovery panels, as shown schematically in Figures 6 and 7.

In Figure 6, recovery panels 5a and 5b are stored along the body of the sprayer 1, and two other recovery panels 3a and 3b are stored along the rear of this body.

In Figure 7, all the recovery panels 3a, 5a and 3b, 5b are stored on the sides of the sprayer body 1.

It could also be envisaged that at least part of the recovery panels are stored in the upper part of the sprayer body.

The mode of operation and advantages of the present invention result directly from the above description.

In the working position, the recovery panels 3, 5 are superimposed in pairs on the row of plants to be treated V, as shown in Figure 1.

The pressurized phytosanitary liquid arrives from the spray tank 1 through the liquid inlet pipes 19 (figure 3c) arranged in each recovery panel 3.

This phytosanitary liquid is sprayed through the sets of nozzles 35 arranged on the working face of the recovery panel 3 (figure 2).

Furthermore, pressurized air generated by a compressed air generating unit arrives through the upper opening 23 (Figure 4) of the recovery panel, after passing through the female 43 and male 40 conduits of the recovery panel support device.

This pressurized air will fill the internal volume of the box that forms the recovery panel 3, creating a pressure chamber that will feed the air diffusers of the spray assemblies 35.

This allows the generation of pulsed air beams 55 (see figure 2), allowing for improved projection of the phytosanitary liquid onto the foliage of the plants V.

Furthermore, the pressure chamber in the box that forms the volume of the recuperator 3 will also allow air to be expelled through the side holes 25, 27, bottom 29 and top 31 of the recuperator panel.

These side, bottom and top holes create an air curtain that frames the spray cloud generated by the nozzle assemblies 35.

More particularly, the lower, rear and upper air curtains generated respectively by the holes 29, 27 and 31 visible in Figure 2, make it possible to contain a large part of the phytosanitary liquid that does not reach or does not remain on the leaves of the plants to be treated.

The air curtain generated by the holes 25 located on the front edge (with respect to the direction and sense of advance D in working condition) of the recovery panel 3 makes it possible to agitate the foliage of the plants to be treated just upstream of the spraying assemblies 35, and thus better expose their leaves to the jet of phytosanitary liquid to be sprayed.

The ribs 13 (Figure 2) arranged on the working face of the recovery panel 3 prevent the bouncing of drops of phytosanitary liquid returned by the leaves of the plants; after hitting these ribs, the drops drip into the recovery tank 33, which returns the liquid thus recovered to the phytosanitary liquid tank of the sprayer, through the return pipe 21 (Figure 3c).

By operating each of the cylinders 49 (figure 4), we can modify the orientation of each recovery panel 3 with respect to the body of the sprayer 1, as can be seen in figures 3a, 3b and 3c.

In particular, these recovery panels can be moved from the working position shown in Figure 1, to the storage position shown in Figure 5 or in Figures 6 and 7, as already explained above.

It is also advantageously possible, in working conditions, to modify the respective orientation of the recovery panels 3a, 5a and 3b, 5b, as shown in Figure 8, i.e. for example by forming an open angle towards the front of the sprayer, in order to better accommodate and enclose the plants to be treated between each pair of recovery panels.

Each recovery panel is designed so that it can be used as a left or right recovery panel.

To do this, the holes intended to receive the spray assemblies 35 are pre-drilled on each side of the working face of the recovery panel and then drilled at the time of installation of these spray assemblies according to the left or right destination of each panel.

Of course, the present invention is in no way limited to the described and shown embodiment, provided by way of simple example; the scope of protection is conferred by independent claim 1.

Claims (8)

1. Recovery panel (3, 5; 3a, 3b, 5a, 5b) for agricultural sprayer (1), forming a hollow box comprising an air inlet opening (23), and comprising, on a working face, openings or preliminary openings (37) suitable for receiving pulsed air type spraying assemblies (35), characterized in that the box is a single block. 2. Recovery panel (3, 5; 3a, 3b, 5a, 5b) according to claim 1, provided with ribs (13) on its useful face. 3. Recovery panel (3, 5; 3a, 3b, 5a, 5b) according to claim 2, wherein said ribs (13) have a substantially triangular cross section and extend along a vertical direction in the working position. 4. Recovery panel (3, 5; 3a, 3b, 5a, 5b) according to any of the preceding claims, comprising a tank for collecting phytosanitary liquid (33) in the lower part in the working position, suitable for connecting to a pipe for collecting this liquid (21). 5. Recovery panel (3, 5; 3a, 3b, 5a, 5b) according to any of the preceding claims, provided on its face opposite its useful face with a slot (15) suitable for receiving a phytosanitary suction tube (19). 6. Recovery panel (3, 5; 3a, 3b, 5a, 5b) according to claim 2 and any of claims 3 to 5, wherein said openings or preliminary openings (37) are suitable for receiving pulsed air type spray assemblies (35), are arranged symmetrically on each side of said ribs (13). 7. Recovery panel (3, 5; 3a, 3b, 5a, 5b) according to any of the preceding claims, formed by rigid or flexible polyethylene. 8. A sprayer (1) equipped with recovery panels (3a, 3b, 5a, 5b) according to any one of claims 1 to 7, supported by respective support devices (9, 11), the support devices (9, 11) comprising a fixing frame (38) at the top of said panel in working position, a male head (39) fixedly mounted on this frame (38) equipped with a male air flow duct (40), a female head (41) receiving said male head (39) in a pivotal manner and equipped with a female air circulation duct (43) into which said male duct (40) extends, a cylinder actuator (49) interposed between said female (41) and male (39) heads, and means for connecting said female head (41) to articulated suspension arms on said sprayer (1).